ANTI-TOURISM protests in Spain and Europe will spread if politicians don’t address the negative effects felt by residents, according to a UNESCO official.
Peter Debrine, the organisations senior project officer for sustainable tourism, told broadcaster CNBC: “Civil society coming and trying to make change is very important, because these are elected officials, who have to respond to what the residents of their cities want.”
Barcelona for example has seen issues over tourism worsen, and a 2023 survey by the City Council showed a growing number of residents believing that tourism does not benefit the Catalan capital.
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“In Barcelona they really breached a threshold but there are are solutions,” said Debrine.
The interests of locals and travellers need to be rebalanced according to the UNESCO official.
“A city dealing with too many travellers can make a push for quality over quantity tourism — that is, prioritising big-spending travellers over mass tourists,” he stated.
‘Quality’ tourists also help deal with an issue of holidaymakers who misbehave.
“With the residents, it’s not just the numbers, but it’s how people are behaving,” Debrine said in response to growing complaints of excess drinking, fighting, and littering.
“We need to be more conscious in our travel decisions and to look at the concept of mirror cities.”
“There’s a beautiful city south of Barcelona called Tarragona which has a lot of wonderful cultural attractions and like Barcelona, a beautiful seaside.”
But unlike Barcelona, Debrine said, it ‘could benefit from more tourism’.
More anti-tourism protests are scheduled around Spain, including a big demonstration in Mallorca this Sunday.
